Wednesday, November 19, 2014

"People are looking for inexpensive things for Christmas," one of our contact persons emailed us in advance of the bazaar, "so don't be disappointed if you don't sell a painting."
Her words proved to be true. Even so, as an "outside vendor" at the annual City View United Church Snowflake Bazaar on November 15th, Roger made a small profit, and gained something even more valuable - publicity for his paintings. The notecards with pictures of his paintings proved to be popular.

I took along a few copies of some of my books, those for which he provided the cover design - Illusions Die; Memories Stick, An Amethyst Remembrance; Spelling Bee and of course, the most recent, The Songcatcher and Me - and sold a copy of Spelling Bee.

Roger was given a pegboard on which to display his paintings, and ample table space for his notecards and small framed photographs of some of his works. We had the pleasure of being situated in the "Sunshine Room" of the church with two other painters and a photographer, all of whom are accomplished artists and friendly people. Last year when we were at the bazaar with just my books, we found the event well organized, and it was again this year. The organizers provided plenty of information beforehand, and allowed exhibitors to come in and set up their tables on the Friday afternoon and evening before the bazaar. The event was well attended by interesting people, including a fellow fan of The Sopranos.

The Sunshine Room got warm, with the morning sun pouring through the high windows. I removed my scarf, then my vest (not a vest in the sense of "chemise", but "bolero"). Eventually one of the other artists, possibly apprehensive that I would go further, took a long hook and opened the windows.

All in all, we enjoyed the six hours we spent there. I had plenty of time to shop, and came home with some finds. At the book sales/fairs we've attended in the past, we've often eaten up the profits in the form of junk food, but not this time.

Also, my short story, "Patreesha - 1957" appears in The Writing Spiral: Learning as a Writer (Sunshine in a Jar Publishing, www.sunshineinajar.com )As the title indicates, this non-fiction book is about an approach to creative writing, and my story, a work of fiction, appears with some non-fiction stories and poems to illustrate aspects of the "writing spiral" approach. The ISBN is 978-0-9809444-2-2 Copies may be purchased from the author/compiler/editor, Jessica Outram, jessica@sunshineinajar.com